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| Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins |
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Limited to just eight scholarship players for a second time against Samford this season, Furman nearly duplicated their point total and margin of victory as the Paladins had 15 days ago against the same foe, but settled for a point more on the margin, gutting out a 78-73 win over Samford Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
With the win, Furman improved to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in Southern Conference play, while Samford falls to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in league play. With its 77-73 win back on Jan.14 in Homewood, Furman has now five-straight against Samford and have now swept the Bulldogs in the regular-season in consecutive seasons.
The Paladins were led by the same dynamic duo that helped the Paladins to a convincing win last Friday at UNC Greensboro, only this time in reverse order of leading scorer, as Tom House poured in 21 points, while Alex Wilkins added 20, three assists and a block before fouling out after only 20 minutes of floor time, as the duo once again led three Paladins in double figures in the win. Ben Vander Wal rounded out the Paladins in double figures with 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists before also fouling out late.
Senior Charles Johnston led Furman's efforts on the glass, posting 16 rebounds to go along with his eight points.
House finished the night connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field, including a 2-for-7 effort from three-point range and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Wilkins, meanwhile, connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field and was 3-for-4 from three-point range, while also going a perfect 3-for-3 from the line. The freshman from Mattapan, MA., scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, including scoring 10 of Furman's first points of the second half en route to notching his 10th performance of 20 or more points in his freshman season. With his 20-point effort, Wilkins has nearly eclipsed the 400-point mark (currently 396 pts) as a freshman.
Samford was led by the usual suspects of Jadin Booth and Dylan Faulkner, who were two of three Bulldogs to finish the night in double figures. Booth, the league's leading scorer, posted 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and finished the contest connecting on 8-of-21 shots from the field, including 4-for-10 from three-point range. He was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe and added a pair of assists.
Faulkner chipped in with his second double-double in as many appearances against the Paladins, finishing the evening with 19 points, 12 rebounds and added four assists. He finished the night going 8-for-9 from the field but was just 3-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Kam Martin rounded out the Bulldogs in double figures, adding 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-5 from three-point range. He also went 5-for-7 from the charity stripe.
The Paladins finished the night connecting on an impressive 58.3% (28-of-48) from the field, which included a 33.3% (7-for-21) effort from three-point range and shot 75% (15-of-20) from the charity stripe.
Samford finished the night connecting on 40.9% (27-of-66) from the field, which included a 28.0% (7-of-25) from three-point range, as well as a 54.5% (12-of-22) effort from the charity stripe.
Furman held slight advantages in total rebounds (35-33), total assists (14-12), and fast-break points (7-2). Samford held advantages in second-chance points (17-12), points from turnovers (13-0), and bench points (18-12). Both teams tied in the points in the paint category, 32-32.
How It Happened:
The game started out high-scoring, with Ben Vander Wal getting the game underway with a three-point play the old-fashioned way and a layup and three from Alex Wilkins would give the Paladins an early 10-4 lead, however, back-to-back threes from Jadin Booth and Keaton Norris got the Bulldogs back to within two, at 12-10, heading into the first media timeout. Then following the timeout, a pair of Booth foul shots tied the game at 12-12 with 14:09 left.
The score would remain tied, 14-14, heading into the first media timeout, as Charles Johnston fouled Dylan Faulkner on a layup attempt at the 11:57 mark heading into the second media. Faulkner, however, missed both free throws and the game remained tied.
A follow-up layup by Faulkner at the 10:04 mark gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the night at 19-17. The physicality of the game began to intensify. Vander Wal tied it with a follow-up layup of his own at the 8:10 mark. Cade Norris connected on a fade-a-way and Tom House answered with a driving layup off the glass, and the two teams headed to the third media timeout tied, 21-21, with 6:46 left in the half.
Eddrin Bronson’s three-pointer with the shot-clock winding down gave the Paladins a 26-23 lead, however, the one drawback was that Alex Wilkins picked up his third foul just prior to Bronson’s three. The Paladins carried the three-point advantage into the final media timeout with 3:57 left in the half.
A William Shaver half-hook in the lane gave the Bulldogs a 32-30 lead with 1:05 remaining in the half, prompting a Bob Richey timeout. A Johnston strong take and layup tied it once again, however, Booth was fouled on the other end with 36.4 seconds remaining and he cashed in on 1-of-2 foul shots on the other end, giving the Bulldogs the lead once again, at 33-32.
A Ben Vander Wal three-point play the old-fashioned way helped Furman end of the half helped the Paladins end the half the way they started the game, and Furman went to the half with a 35-33 lead. The Bulldogs held advantages in total rebounds (18-17), points from turnovers (6-0) and second-chance points (10-5), with Faulkner leading the way with 15 first-half points for the Bulldogs on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from the charity stripe.
House led the Paladins with nine points in the opening frame, while Vander Wal added eight points and four boards, while Alex Wilkins chipped in with seven points, two assists, and blocked a shot before being whistled for his third foul with 4:59 remaining in opening half.
In the second half, Furman came out cooking, with seven quick points from Wilkins and a bucket in traffic from House, as the Paladins briefly assumed their biggest lead of the night at eight, 44-36, but Cade Norris matched with three at the 16:22 which was followed by a quick Samford timeout.
Following the timeout, Furman’s Johnston hit a half-hook in the paint and then off a second-chance opportunity for Samford, blocked Isaiah Campbell-Finch’s shot and the ball last hit Finch on the way out, giving the Paladins the ball back after the media timeout leading 46-39 at the 15:28 mark of the second half. Alex Wilkins then was fouled on a short jumper, knocking down the shot and then converting the three-point play the old-fashioned way, however, picked up his fourth foul shortly thereafter and had to exit the game.
Furman would eventually grow its lead to 14, at 57-43, following a Ben Vander Wal layup off a backdown Barkley in the paint. That’s how the score would remain as the two teams headed to the under 11 media timeout with 10:39 left. All told, the Paladins had put together a 22-10 spurt out of the locker room, with Wilkins scoring 10 of the first 14 before picking up his fourth personal foul.
Six quick points by Will Shaver of a second-chance opportunity, two free throws by Kam Martin after a foul drawn on Owen Ritger and a Booth baseline jumper from about 12 feet out quickly cut the Paladin lead to eight, at 57-49, with 9:05 remaining, prompting a Furman timeout.
Wilkins would hit a three to put Furman up 10, 62-52, however, the Bulldogs hit back with a 10-3 spurt and Wilkins picked up his fifth foul with just under four minutes remaining, as he was whistled for his third offensive foul of the night, exiting with his 10th twenty-plus performance of the season.
Samford’s Booth connected on a jumper to slice Furman’s lead to two, at 66-64, with 2:58 remaining. However, the Paladins got four-straight off a drive from a Charles Johnston layup in the paint and a Eddrin Bronson driving layup off the left side, shielding the Samford defender off with his body while laying the ball off the left side of the glass for a 70-64 Furman lead with 1:47 remaining.
Following a third-straight Samford miss, House found himself open in transition for a left wing three, splashing home the triple to extend Furman's lead back out to nine, at 73-64, with 1:11 remaining. Booth finally ended the scoring drought on the other end for the Bulldogs on a contested three, pulling the Bulldogs back to within six, at 73-67, with 48 seconds remaining.
Cole Bowser would be immediately fouled by Kam Martin to put the freshman at the line for a one-and-one bonus opportunity, and he knocked down both ends of the one-and-one to extend Furman's lead back to eight, at 75-67, with 46 seconds remaining.
On the next trip down, Martin missed a three, but the long rebound was corralled by Keaton Norris, who found Booth for another contested three at the top of the key, which he drained, to cut the Furman lead to five, at 75-70, with 34 seconds remaining.
Eddrin Bronson was then whistled for a five-second violation, giving the ball back to Samford with no time having expired off the clock. On the ensuing inbounds play, Vander Wal fouled Martin shooting a three, sending him to the line for three shots with 33 seconds remaining, and he would make 1-of-3 from the line to cut Furman's lead to four, at 75-71.
After Collin O'Neal was fouled, he missed the front end of the one-and-one this time around, giving the Bulldogs a chance to draw even closer, which they did after Johnston fouled Martin trying to corral a loose back, but in the melee, Martin came up with the ball and drew the foul. He knocked down both foul shots with 24 seconds left to get the Bulldogs to within two, at 75-73.
While Furman had blown double-digit leads in recent outings at home against Wofford (led by 13 in second half) and on the road at The Citadel (led by 19 in second half), this time around the pressure didn't get to the short-handed 'Dins, as Bronson (2-of-2) and O'Neal (1-of-2) went a combined 3-for-4 from the line, which was sandwiched by a Keaton Norris missed jumper, as the Paladins closed out the first half of Southern Conference play in victorious fashion, moving to 6-3 in league play with a 78-73 win over Samford at the turn of the schedule.
With another winter storm bearing down on the Southeast, Furman's 1 p.m. EST Sunday matinee' against Chattanooga (9-13, 3-6 SoCon) slated for ESPN2 remains up in the air, but tentatively still a go, while Samford will be on the road for a Saturday noon contest at Western Carolina (8-12, 4-5 SoCon).
Postgame Press Conference:
Furman head coach Bob Richey
Furman players Ed Bronson (left) and Tom House (right)
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